Two million tune in for Corrie star's chat show

14/08/2007 - 15:30:14
Coronation Street star Antony Cotton’s new ITV1 chat show debuted with nearly twice as many viewers as rivals Richard and Judy.

That Anthony Cotton Show launched yesterday with two million viewers – a 17.6% audience share.

Over on Channel 4, Richard and Judy attracted just 1.1 million viewers and a share of 9.7%.

Cotton, who plays Coronation Street’s Sean Tully, helped ITV1 to its best August Monday ratings ever.

His teatime show is a mix of comedy and celebrity chat.

Corrie bosses have given him time off to host the show for a five-week run while still filming his scenes for the soap.

His debut proved more successful than Paul O’Grady’s first ITV1 show in 2004, which had 1.9 million viewers.

O’Grady defected to Channel 4 and ITV1 has struggled to attract viewers to the 5pm slot.

Cotton and O’Grady will go head-to-head in the next few weeks when Richard and Judy take their annual summer break.